


You Are Not the Hero

by orphan_account



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cass gets called out I guess, I have no idea what I'm doing, alternate take on Cassandra's Revenge, minor language, the sword is mentioned a few times so if you don't like swords don't read, the truth serum is mentioned as a drug so watch out for that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24466195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This is an alternate take on Varian and Cassandra's talk during Cassandra's Revenge, because even as Nothing Left to Lose is a bop, I was disappointed with their conversation. So. Here you go.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 94





	You Are Not the Hero

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically what it says on the tin. If you're convinced that Cassandra did nothing wrong and that she was not the villain, don't read. Or do. I have no control over your actions.  
> With that being said, please enjoy.

Cassandra sits on a slab of black rock, spine ramrod straight as she sharpens her sword. Varian rubs his wrists, thinking about what he’s going to say. He wouldn’t have listened to her when _he’d_ been a villain, he knows, but he’ll try anyways. It’s worth a shot, he supposes. The worst case scenario is that she’ll just ignore him. Probably.

“If you’re going to try to convince me that I’m wrong, you’re not going to have any success,” Cassandra calls from across the room before he even opens his mouth. He frowns.

“Even so, will you listen to me?”

The moonstone wielder flicks her eyes up to look at him, examining the foolish hope in his and the way he still holds himself with confidence while speaking to her. Despite how she had kidnapped him and forced him to tell her the incantation, he still has faith that he can get through to her. She supposes that she’ll let him talk - she’s completely certain about her motives anyways. His argument won’t sway her. She motions for him to start talking, going back to sharpening her sword as she does.

“You remember when I… hmm… how to put this…”

“Kidnapped the queen, nearly killed her _and_ me, trapped your father in amber, and blamed us - well, namely Rapunzel - for everything?”

Varian clenches his fists at the last statement, biting his lip to keep from yelling about how it _wasn’t his fault_ , which of course it was. He knows that now, but he spent so long convincing himself otherwise that it’s hard to remember sometimes. She probably expects him to deny it, but he just releases his fists with a sigh as he does his best to expel the building anger. “Yeah, basically.”

Cassandra lifts an eyebrow, somewhat surprised at how he’s changed since she’d last seen him. “Did I strike a nerve there, kid?”

He laughs, though the sound is hollow and bitter. “You think?” His tone is biting, a contrast from the tired acceptance from only seconds prior. There’s silence for a moment and then the moonstone-wielder goes back to sharpening her sword. Varian takes in a deep breath before continuing, preparing himself for his next words as he shoves the familiar anger down. Now is _not_ the time to be resentful about the past.

“Cassandra, please. This path you’re on… it clouds your judgement, gives you an excuse to wound your friends for things you blame them for, even if it’s not their fault. You’ll go farther and farther for what you think is right, not caring who you hurt, because your goal is more important than them. I did -”

“Obviously,” she interrupts, the word more of a snort than a snide remark.

“- and you are, too.” Cassandra stops sharpening her sword, looking up at Varian with a cold fury that would have scared him two years ago. Now he’s all too accustomed to it.

“ _Excuse_ me?”

“Doesn’t this all seem a little extreme - breaking into the castle, _kidnapping_ me, making me tell you the incantation with my own truth serum?”

“You did all of these things.”

“Yes, and I went too far!”

“You also tried to kill the princess, the queen, _and_ me.”

“And you’re _not_ going to try to kill Rapunzel?”

At this, Cassandra bristles. “Of course not.” She’s gripping her sword so tightly that Varian has no doubt that her knuckles are white under the dark armor she wears.

“Then what are you going to do, have a friendly chat?” Varian takes a deep breath, scrunching his eyes closed before going through with his next statement. It’s already too late to stop now. “Becoming the villain isn’t the answer to your problems -”

“Is _that_ what you think I am?” Cassandra snaps, standing up suddenly, but Varian refuses to back down. He advances, which he realizes might be a mistake considering that Cassandra is still holding her sword, but he doesn’t care at this point. For goodness’s sake, even _he_ had realized that he was the villain. If someone had gone and told him that, he’d have laughed in their face at the statement.

“ _I know,_ ” he would have said, and a sneer would have twisted his lips. “ _But it’s_ their _fault._ ”

“Let’s think,” he spits, incredulous that she’s surprised at all. “You snuck into the castle with the intention of stealing something, kidnapped me, _did_ end up stealing something, drugged me, and then proceeded to say that you’re not the villain. Come _on_ , Cassandra. You’ve _got_ to know how ludicrous that sounds.”

“ _Ludicrous_?”

“Yes, Cassandra. Sun-damned _ludicrous_.”

She stands deathly still, a burning rage not-so-hidden in her eyes, but he can’t bring himself to care. She _needs_ to hear this.

“What do you _think_ you are? You’re certainly not the hero.”

Cassandra grinds her teeth but doesn’t move to attack. Varian knows that she could, with her sword or the rocks, but she doesn’t. She’s listening, really listening, even if she won’t admit to it.

“I’m taking my destiny,” she eventually growls.

His gaze meets hers and she realizes that his eyes are steeled, very unlike the boy she knew two years ago. _The boy who tried to kill her, the Queen, even_ Rapunzel _._ She feels the anger rise again before realizing that she’s really in no position to judge.

“And what is your ‘destiny?’” Varian demands. “Tell me, Cassandra - what is your _grand_ plan, the end to your means?”

She hates that she doesn’t know the answer to that question and despises that he’s figured it out. He’s aware that she isn’t clear about her endgame, what this is all for.

“I hope that it’s worth it,” he hisses, turning away from her to face one of the tower’s windows. The wind pushes at them suddenly and his eyes meet hers once more, and she realizes that he’s so much _older_ than she had previously thought, that there’s something in his expression that didn’t used to be there - a darkness, an anger, a _guilt_.

He breaks the eye contact first, turning back to face the window. “I hope that it’s _all_ worth it for you, Cassandra.”

The blue girl sits to the side, obviously invisible to Varian and expression passive. Well, not exactly passive. The corners of her mouth twitch up slightly, something that Cassandra probably wouldn’t notice usually.

“What would you have me do?” she whispers, not caring that Varian can hear her and might think her to be mad. She turns to the girl. “What _is_ my destiny?”

“Your destiny is to destroy Rapunzel and take the power that is rightfully yours,” the girl says with a wolfish grin, though no wolf could ever create such unease as to make Cassandra shiver, which she does. “You must break her spirit.”

The girl has told her this once, but she hadn’t thought much of it. It had been something that she had questioned at first, but it undeniably makes sense somehow in the grand scheme of things - that the only way to get what belongs to her is to take it. But now, with everything that the girl is saying, and realizing the things that she’s planned… “destroying” Rapunzel, _breaking her spirit…_

Is Varian right?

_Is she the villain?_

**Author's Note:**

> So that's it. Hope you enjoyed. If you didn't, cool. Umm. Have a nice day. Or night. Or whatever.  
> This is probably just going to be a oneshot as I'm not sure how I would continue it, but who knows? Maybe I'll come up with something. No promises, though. :)


End file.
